Live updates

The Chancellor George Osborne has insisted the government will continue to fight for Britain and British interests in Europe.

His comments come after reports from Germany that Chancellor Angela Merkel has threatened to withdraw her support for keeping Britain in the EU if David Cameron continued in his drive to curb immigration from other EU countries, in defiance of the EU policy on the free movement of people.

As flights and buses arriving today showed, many Romanians and Bulgarians have been living in Britain for years.

But we should also be welcoming new arrivals, just as Britons arriving in France, Spain and other European states find themselves welcomed.

It's time to end the toxic immigration debate and acknowledge that, whether they are nurses and doctors coming to work in the NHS, computer game designers or building workers, Romanians and Bulgarians, as with other immigrants, will be contributing to our society.

Some will settle, some will only be here for a few years, and they reflect the mobile nature of life in the modern world which enriches all of our lives.

Victor Spiresau has arrived in the UK from Romania today in order to find a job in construction, he told ITV News.

Victor Spiresau says he taught himself English by watching films and MTV Credit: ITV News

The 30-year-old said he earned 10 euros a day working on building sites at home and that he hopes to make 10 euros an hour here, but was not planning on settling.

"I don't want to stay here. I want to renovate my home and to make a good life in Romania because it's much easier to live in Romania because it's not expensive."

Mr Spiresau said he already has work lined up washing cars in London but hopes to go on to work in the construction industry. He said he chose to come to the UK over other European countries as he can speak the language.